“Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is more delightful than wine….
Take me with you—let us hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers” (SOS 1:2-4).

Pieces of clothing,
like pretenses,
are removed,
like explanations,
are cast aside,
like self-image,
collapse into hollow,
rumpled piles,
and I am naked.

I can think of only one thing—
“The word of a king is supreme.
who can say to him,
‘What are you doing?’”—
a proverb I heard
years ago.

Standing here, I realize
it is one thing to hear a proverb;
it is quite another
to see it disrobed before you,
quite another
to be stripped down
until you are nothing

but
loved.